2006–07 NAHL season
| 2006–07 NAHL season | |
|---|---|
| League | North American Hockey League |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | Regular season September 13, 2006 – April 1, 2007 Post-season April 5 – May 6, 2007 |
| Number of games | 62 |
| Number of teams | 17 |
| Regular season | |
| Season champions | Mahoning Valley Phantoms |
| Top scorer | Patrick Maroon (St. Louis Bandits) |
| Robertson Cup Playoffs | |
| Finals champions | St. Louis Bandits |
| Runners-up | Mahoning Valley Phantoms |
The 2006–07 NAHL season was the 23rd season of the North American Hockey League. The regular season ran from September 2006 to April 2007 with a 62-game schedule for each team. The Mahoning Valley Phantoms won the regular season championship and went on be defeated by the St. Louis Bandits 8 to 4 for the Robertson Cup.
Member changes
- During the season, the NAHL approved the addition of the Marquette Rangers as an expansion team beginning with this season.[1]
- On May 3, 2006, the United States Hockey League approved the addition of a Columbus-area expansion team for this season.[2] The ownership group transferred their NAHL franchise, the Cleveland Jr. Barons, in its entirety and rebranded it as the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets.
- Later in May, the Billings Bulls, Bozeman Icedogs and Helena Bighorns all left the NAHL to join the Northern Pacific Hockey League.[3]
- During the summer, the Minnesota Blizzard rebranded as the Alexandria Blizzard. Additionally, the Wasilla Spirit changed their name to the Alaska Avalanche.[4]
- Around the same time, the Texarkana Bandits relocated to St. Louis.[5] The franchise retained its nickname.
Regular season
The standings at the end of the regular season were as follows:[6]
Note: x = clinched playoff berth; y = clinched division title; z = clinched regular season title
Standings
Central Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 62 | 37 | 19 | 6 | 80 | 216 | 192 |
| x – Southern Minnesota Express | 62 | 35 | 23 | 4 | 74 | 206 | 177 |
| x – Alexandria Blizzard | 62 | 28 | 29 | 5 | 61 | 165 | 193 |
| x – North Iowa Outlaws | 62 | 27 | 29 | 6 | 60 | 174 | 198 |
| Bismarck Bobcats | 62 | 26 | 30 | 6 | 58 | 193 | 221 |
| Springfield Jr. Blues | 62 | 26 | 31 | 5 | 57 | 188 | 203 |
North Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xyz – Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 62 | 47 | 14 | 1 | 95 | 283 | 168 |
| x – Alpena IceDiggers | 62 | 37 | 20 | 5 | 79 | 232 | 194 |
| x – USNTDP | 62 | 28 | 30 | 4 | 60 | 211 | 215 |
| x – Marquette Rangers | 62 | 25 | 32 | 5 | 55 | 189 | 227 |
| Traverse City North Stars | 62 | 19 | 38 | 5 | 43 | 177 | 276 |
South Division
| Team | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| xy – St. Louis Bandits | 62 | 43 | 14 | 5 | 91 | 228 | 153 |
| x – Santa Fe RoadRunners | 62 | 41 | 17 | 4 | 86 | 221 | 154 |
| x – Texas Tornado | 62 | 38 | 18 | 6 | 82 | 211 | 174 |
| x – Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 62 | 34 | 24 | 4 | 72 | 223 | 203 |
| Wichita Falls Wildcats | 62 | 22 | 34 | 6 | 50 | 175 | 227 |
| Alaska Avalanche | 62 | 16 | 39 | 7 | 39 | 148 | 242 |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following players led the league in regular season points at the completion of all regular season games. [7]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patrick Maroon | St. Louis Bandits | 57 | 40 | 55 | 95 | 160 |
| Todd Rudasill | Alpena IceDiggers | 59 | 33 | 56 | 89 | 101 |
| Dustin Cloutier | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 52 | 41 | 41 | 82 | 81 |
| Jesse Echternach | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 61 | 35 | 45 | 80 | 52 |
| Joe Shean | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 62 | 22 | 57 | 79 | 84 |
| Kyle Schmidt | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 62 | 45 | 33 | 78 | 74 |
| Drew Pierson | Alpena IceDiggers | 62 | 35 | 42 | 77 | 66 |
| Chris Connolly | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 62 | 20 | 56 | 76 | 12 |
| Tibor Kutalek | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 60 | 44 | 32 | 76 | 65 |
| Nathan Longpre | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 61 | 27 | 38 | 65 | 36 |
| Nolan Craner | Alpena IceDiggers | 59 | 25 | 40 | 65 | 97 |
Leading goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; Mins = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; SOL = Shootout losses; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage
| Player | Team | GP | Mins | W | L | OTL | SOL | GA | SO | SV | SV% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Hopper | Wichita Falls Wildcats | 48 | 2746:25 | 30 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 99 | 8 | 1,050 | .906 | 2.16 |
| Pat Nagle | St. Louis Bandits | 36 | 2136:12 | 24 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 81 | 1 | 965 | .916 | 2.28 |
| Ryan Zapolski | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 51 | 3002:02 | 42 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 116 | 4 | 1,610 | .928 | 2.32 |
| Thomas Tragust | Texas Tornado | 46 | 2586:22 | 27 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 109 | 2 | 1,089 | .900 | 2.53 |
| Lars Paulgaard | Southern Minnesota Express | 51 | 2878:34 | 30 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 122 | 8 | 1,373 | .911 | 2.54 |
Robertson Cup playoffs
Four teams qualified for the Round Robin semifinal, the host (Fairbanks) and the three division champions. If Fairbanks won the South division final, the runner-up would receive the final qualifying spot. For the round robin semifinal, ties were broken first by head-to-head matchup and then by goal differential.
The team with the best record advanced directly to the championship game while the second- and third-place teams met in a semifinal.
| Division Semifinals (Best-of-5) | Division Finals (Best-of-5) | Semifinal (Round Robin) | Championship (Best-of-1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| C4 | North Iowa Outlaws | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2* | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| C1 | Fargo-Moorhead Jets | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Central Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Southern Minnesota Express | 5 | 4 | 3*** | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Southern Minnesota Express | 1 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| C3 | Alexandria Blizzard | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 4 | 6 | 6 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| C2 | Southern Minnesota Express | - | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Marquette Rangers | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 2 | 3 | 6 | - | - | N1 | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 4 | - | 5 | 7 | N1 | Mahoning Valley Phantoms | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| North Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N3 | USNTDP | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | S1 | St. Louis Bandits | 3 | 2 | - | 4 | S1 | St. Louis Bandits | 8 | ||||||||||||||
| N2 | Alpena IceDiggers | 4 | 2 | 3 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| N3 | USNTDP | 5 | 3 | 5 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | St. Louis Bandits | 6 | 3* | 3* | - | - | Consolation Game | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | St. Louis Bandits | 3 | 4* | 5 | 6 | 6 | C2 | Southern Minnesota Express | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| South Division | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Texas Tornado | 4* | 3 | 2 | 7 | 1 | S4 | Fairbanks Ice Dogs | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Santa Fe Roadrunners | 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| S3 | Texas Tornado | 4 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
References
- ^ "New Faces, New Places". Inside College Hockey. April 13, 2006. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
- ^ "Columbus membership in USHL approved for 2006-07". Our Sports Central. May 3, 2006. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
- ^ "History of the Bozeman Icedogs". bozemanicedogs.com/.
- ^ BartzFrontiersman, Jeremiah (27 August 2010). "BACK ON THE ICE". Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman.
- ^ "St. Louis Bandits granted inactive status for 2012-13". NAHL. May 14, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2025.
- ^ "NAHL Standings". North American Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
- ^ "NAHL Stats". North American Hockey League. Retrieved May 26, 2025.